Does cataract surgery give you 20/20 vision?

It depends on what you mean by "20/20 vision." Many people mistakenly think 20/20 refers to both reading and far vision when it is actually just distance. You also need to specify "corrected (by glasses) 20/20" or "uncorrected 20/20" after the cataract is replaced with a lens implant. Finally, the purpose of cataract surgery is to remove an opacity in the natural lens -it is not necessarily going to provide uncorrected 20/20 although we surgeons do try to optimize the uncorrected distance vision as a "value added" benefit.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic